Date: June 15, 2007
Federal officials want to start requiring passports or new border crossing cards in January for millions of Americans who visit Canada or Mexico by land or sea, including ferries
“Nobody can say with the straight face that the federal government is ready for this. If the new passport requirements for air travel gave us a taste of purgatory, the new land requirements will give us a bellyful and plenty of leftovers,” LaTourette said. “My amendment simply asks the DHS to slow down and get it right this time.”
LaTourette’s amendment is part of a $37 billion spending bill that will fund the Department of Homeland Security. His amendment was debated on the House Floor at about 1 a.m. this morning. LaTourette spoke on the Floor of the disastrous implementation of the new rules regarding air travel, and said every House member and every Senator has been besieged with pleas of help from constituents who can’t get their passports even though they applied for them up to four months ago. He and his colleague, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), argued that constituent service is as important as legislating, and members have an obligation to do both.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State obviously need more resources to enact these new security measures. Our constituents should not be penalized for inadequate planning by our government. This amendment will give our constituents the freedom to travel without undue bureaucratic obstacles,” Kucinich said.
LaTourette said many of his constituents regularly travel to Canada to visit Niagara Falls or Toronto, and should be able to do so without government delays. U.S. Rep. David E. Price (D-NC), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security, announced on the House Floor early this morning that he did not object to LaTourette’s amendment and “will be happy if it’s adopted.” The measure passed by voice vote at about 1:15 a.m., but LaTourette asked for a recorded vote. The House began to vote on 24 amendments to the homeland security spending bill at 9 a.m. today, and LaTourette’s passed just before 11 a.m. by a vote of 379 to 45.
LaTourette said the first and much smaller phase of the travel plan required Americans traveling to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda on planes to have a passport. Congress gave the federal government until June 1, 2009, to implement the new travel rules but it decided to forge ahead with Phase I on January 23, 2007. The crush of new passport applications for air travel effectively paralyzed the State Department, and travel rules had to be relaxed a week ago.
Despite all the turmoil with passport processing, LaTourette said DHS wants to move forward in January with Phase II of the travel initiative to require every American traveling to Canada or Mexico by land to have a passport or a less expensive border crossing card. The new cards, called PASS Cards, are still in the design phase. LaTourette said Phase II could more than quadruple the demand for travel documents, from 6 million for air travel to up to 27 million for land travel.
“If the goal of the federal government is to ruin travel by air, land and sea then we should stick with the January launch,” he said. “If we want to get it right, let’s take a breather and give Homeland Security until June 2009.”
LaTourette said his amendment to the homeland security spending bill simply prohibits the department from spending money to implement Phase II until June 1, 2009, but does not prohibit it from planning and fine-tuning.
“The amendment basically forces DHS to take its time and work out the kinks this time, which I don’t think is too much to ask,” LaTourette said, adding that those crossing the borders into Mexico and Canada will continue to need a valid government-issued photo ID as well as a certified birth certificate.
LaTourette said he intends to offer an amendment to the upcoming State Department appropriations or spending bill to also prohibit it from implementing the new land and sea travel requirements until June 2009.